Jobs

Talking about jobs: listen to people describing the best and the worst jobs they have done, the jobs they would never do, and discover four jobs in video, with the words you need to talk about them.

Todd's jobs (B1)

Todd, an American English teacher, tells us about six jobs in his life. One page per extract: listen and answer, then drag and write the missing words.

• His first job Fifteen years old, two dollars an hour… and he loved it!
• His current job From Thailand to Japan: thirteen years of teaching English.
• His future job Teaching forever? Yes, but with computers and his own business.
• His best job Paid to chat, watch sport on TV and eat good food. Who wouldn't?
• His worst job Tall ladders, cold days and the smell of paint all day long.
• His dream job If he could have any job in the world, he'd play for the New York Yankees.

Jobs you would never do (B2)

Tim and Jeff talk about the jobs they would hate to do, and why.

• Tim and Jeff: jobs they would never do Office worker, police officer, nurse, garbage man: what's wrong with them?
• Talking about work: the words Wage, interview, overtime, fired… 48 words to talk about any job.

Katie's worst part-time job (B1/B2)

Katie, a British student, needed money before coming to France, so she became a house cleaner.

• Katie's worst part-time job Mops, buckets, a pinafore… and a girl from her school watching her clean.

Jobs in video (B1/B2)

Four short videos present a job: what you do, the skills you need, the good and the bad sides. Drag the missing words into the text, then learn the words of the job.

• Bartender Making drinks is easy. Making customers want to come back is the real job.
• Zoologists and wildlife biologists Your office is the great outdoors, and your colleagues are animals.
• Food counter attendant Take orders, serve, make change… and keep smiling, even after long hours.
• Food counter attendant: crossword Thirty words of the job, one grid.
• Preschool teacher Patience, energy and snacks: a day with very small children.

Your turn

• My parents' jobs: some examples Read how other pupils describe their parents' jobs, then write about yours.